An important aspect of any business strategy is efficiency and cost optimization ... particularly when economic conditions are adverse. It is tough to ignore these issues during times of economic instability. In order to properly manage your costs, your cost structure should be flexible so your business can quickly reduce costs in the event of a sales downturn without sacrificing core competencies or missing opportunities.
Programs to reduce costs are a very difficult form of organizational change to implement. They can disrupt daily work rhythms by dampening morale, particularly when head counts are reduced. It is not atypical for a business to have a growing cost base with the resulting strategy being to squeeze their vendors. This is regarded as a simple measure, delivering only a short-term remedy. It is such remedies that fail to make a lasting impact on cost optimization. Thus businesses not only require change in behavior but also in their mindset or thinking to gear up for high performance that is measured by efficiency, and simplification of the business model.
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"Fortune favors the audacious." - Desiderius Erasmus, Dutch social critic and scholar